Random Childhood memory....

I was born on a very small Island 80 miles off the coast of British Columbia, Canada. I was raised there off and on during my childhood, until we made the last move off the island when I was 11. As you can imagine, life on the Islands meant you were R E M O T E. From anything. And everything. Any product brought to the Islands was shipped. If you ordered something out of that little slice of heaven called the Sears Christmas Wish Book, it would take a phone call to order it. Then the waiting began. It could take a few weeks to a month or more to get your item. As a child, I was raised a Jehovahs Witness, and therefore we did not celebrate any holidays, including Christmas. My first Christmas was the first one after Mark and I were married! So 'our' first Christmas was also 'my' first Christmas! (We met during one Christmas and so weren't together, nor was I celebrating Christmas yet...then we were engaged the next Christmas but he was out to sea...again, I still wasn't celebrating Christmas..the following Christmas we were married and he was home and MAN, did I celebrate! )...anyways, I digress!....So..no Christmas for me as a child. But there were a few things I WAS allowed to do. Like the Sears Christmas Wish Book..it came every year..and my Mum would allow me to pick one item. Anything I wanted. I poured over that book for days...and days and days.....I can't tell you what I chose...I forget. So I guess it wasn't the item that was memorable, it was the process of looking through that mountainous book and being able to pick ANY item I wanted! WOW! It was pretty exciting. And then we'd get a call from the Sears office that we had a package to pick up and off we'd go. The toy I chose was always as wonderful as I'd imagined it to be.....and I would love it and play with it and enjoy it for days and days...and then in typical Type A Jaye personality, I'd put it 'in it's place' in my room and take it out now and then to play with it. I always was filled with wonder and delight when the store (yah..ONE store) would decorate for Christmas. It was the Delmas Co-op. Streamers and Santas and all sorts of glorious chocolate things shipped in just for christmas...sigh...I always wished....
One year, some entreprenurial person took it upon themselves to have a storefull of toys shipped to the Islands...they opened up a little shop in an unused building...I remember it being very small...one room...and they built these plywood tables all around the edges of the room and then down the middle and loaded these tables up with toys. They called the place "The Toy Box" and it was a godsend I am sure to all the parents on the Island...no having to wait weeks for your delivery from Sears and hope it got there in time for Christmas! Anyways, one of my moms friends took me to The Toy Box and said she would buy me anything I wanted. So again, the painsaking process of choosing began. I walked around that little store probably a hundred times. I finally settled on this big tin box of paints. It had at least 100 colours in it, if I'm not mistaken, it actually had 120! The picture on the front of this big square flat tin paint box was a water colour of a girl playing with her pet (puppy? Kitten? not sure which)...I LOVED that paint set. I painted pictures for WEEKS with that thing!
So now maybe you can understand why I am so crazy about Christmas. I spent the first 30 years of my life like a child with my face pressed against the glass of the bakery shop. Looking in and seeing all the glorious treats but unable to have them. And now, I can walk right into that shop and have any doughnut I want! That is what Christmas is like for me. I spent the first 30 years of my life always wanting to be a part of it...and I have those few vivid memories of choosing a gift around Christmas time and knowing that all my friends were not only getting more than ONE gift, but they were having big family dinners and parties and being able to sit inside those living rooms that had a big tree lit up inside it that I could see when I drove by...and would sit in the back seat of the car just wishing.....wishing.....and now my wish comes true every year. We have a HUGE tree every year and we always will. Why? Two reasons....I don't have to drive by and wish anymore. I HAVE that huge lit up tree! And secondly, while no one drives by our house now (we live a mile into the forest!) one day we will move and live in a 'neighborhood' and some child will drive by my house and see our tree..and it will be the biggest beacon of hope they will ever see. Hope that someday they too can share the magic of Christmas....and I want my tree to be a part of their Christmas memories.... I also have so many 'traditions' with our children. Things we do every year.....chocolate advent calendar...yule log from Swiss Colony...magic reindeer food...the simple family activity of going out the day after Thanksgiving and geting our tree....so many things we do..MY children will NEVER wish for a better Christmas...every year they say "THIS was the best Christmas ever"..and it's not like I get bigger and better every year because I don't...I don't spend anymore than I do any other year...it's just I have such set traditions and make Christmas so darn fun...and special...for them...yes...but mostly I think.. for that little girl with her face pressed against the Bakery Shop window.....

Hugs to you all...
And have a Blessed and Rich New Year!!

Jaye

Just a TAD late?

So we go to our post box at the end of our driveway yesterday and along with our mail is a friendly 'form letter' from the postal lady (whom I LOVE btw...she ROCKS!) about 'clearing snow away from the post boxes on rural routes'. Ok. No problem. We've been snowed in for days and know that the snow has piled up and we need to remove it from around our post box. Not a problem. We'll get right on it. The funny part? The date at the bottom of the letter..... September 1975! LOLOL....I guess they were a little late delivering this letter!

Hugs to all,
Jaye

Gingerbread Houses, WOW!!

So this year I decided that the kids were more than ready to make gingerbread houses. Of course, I could have done it in years past, however, I did not feel like having to finish two houses on my own which is exactly what would have happened when they were younger and their attention spans were nil! :)

So this year, I made the gingerbread...rolled it out....made a pattern and cut the dough...baked them (crushed life savers in the windows so that after they baked it looks like stained glass!)...and then made icing, put out bowls of candies and let the kids have at it!

They each have their own style. Ben is a 'traditionalist'. His house is iced on the roof and covered with candies like any good gingerbread house should be. Paige on the other hand took the 'realist' approach. Her roof too is iced, but it only has one row of candies near the bottom as 'Christmas lights' and a 'sculpture' on the roof, much like our house has. Please note her 'Santa in the sleigh' on her roof. She made it all by herself, out of jujubes,candy canes etc.....Mark and I both said "WOW Paige" and she looked at us with 'the look' and said "Well, that's what happens when you have a brilliant child'. Nothing like humility right? :)

So here are their homes in various stages of assemblage! :)



Bens house, all the sides 'glued' together, but not decorated. Note the 'stained glass' window above his door!







Paige icing her roof...



Ben loading up his house with candy...





Mark watching the whole process.. He said he never got to do this as a kid. I said his mom probably bought everything to do it but he ate all the candy LONG before he actually got to put them on a house! hahaha....





Paiges Santa on his sled...




I told Paige she looked like an elf in this outfit!




Bens finished product...looks quite yummy!



He's quite proud of his house as you can tell...also notice the two holes in his teeth...yes the tooth fairy has gone broke at our house...



Ben decided to add 'snow' to his house...and by the look on his face, I am not sure how long his house is going to last!



As I said, Paige is more of a 'realist' when it comes to gingerbread houses. Simplicity is her motto...note the peeps snowman in her front yard!




Here is the back of Paiges house. She put two candy canes in a heart shape to make a design...



Wouldn't you like to live in THIS neighborhood?



Hugs to all,
Jaye

First winter snow fall of 2008

Here is Mark headed out to work Thursday morning. It started snowing Wednesday night and we had a few inches by morning...of course, it was a snow day which meant kids were home all day having fun in the snow!


As soon as Ben woke up and saw that it was snowing, he had to run out (without his coat!) and try out his new winter boots!



Paige tried hers out too, and although she still had her pjs on she DID put her coat on!



Paige was going to do a 'test'....here is my finger....




And here is how deep the snow is!



Ben making a snow angel. By this time he actually had all his snow clothes on. YAY Ben!




Paige making her snow angel...





The kids headed to the top of a hill on our driveway to sled down it. Notice how Ben conserves his energy? He carries his sled on his head!




Paige thought it would be a good idea to take Morpheus for a walk in the snow. He did NOT think so! I wouldn't let her keep him out for more than a few minutes as I didn't want him to get frostbite on his little pads...




View from our front porch....




Looking down the driveway from our house...




One of the trails into the forest on our property..





Paige and I thought this was really neat the way the snow 'decorated' the bricks on our back patio!

There is a new kind of Stupid and it lives in Bremerton....

Yesterday (Saturday) we drove to Seatac airport so Sam could fly out to his dads in Calgary. His flight was canceled about 30 minutes before we arrived at the airport due to the bad weather (it is STILL snowing here!). We called his dad to let him know and he started working on rebooking Sams flight from his end. In the meantime we bundled everyone back into the car to try and beat the forcasted storm home. It was snowing lightly as we left the airport and continuously got heavier as we drove- it is about an hour and a half on a good day to get from the airport to our house. As it was getting near dinner time we decided to stop and grab a bite to eat, but wanted to get across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge before doing so, thus avoiding the traffic back ups and snarls that we knew would start at any point in time. So...about 15 minutes from home, we stopped at a McDonalds....quick food so we could get going in a short period of time. While in there eating, we saw this couple out in the parking lot jacking up their car and fiddling with the tires. I asked Mark what they were doing...he said it looked like they had a flat or something. Once they finished on one side they moved over to the other. I said 'do they have TWO flats? Bummer!'. Mark said 'it looks like...sucks to be them'. And they were really struggling....it was snowing pretty heavy and the guy kept trying to adjust his knee board (yes, he had this fancy little thing you could kneel on while you worked on your car....yuppies!) and get the job done while his wife was turning the wheel one way and then the other. They were out there the whole time we were eating. As we got to the end of our meal, Mark said he was going to go outside and ask if they needed help as it was obvious they were struggling. He went out and talked to the guy for a few minutes and came back in laughing his butt off. They didn't have two flats. No...they were putting chains on their tires. BUT THE GUY TOOK HIS TIRES OFF, PUT THE CHAINS ON, AND THEN PUT THE TIRES BACK ON HIS CAR!!!!!!

Yes people, there is a NEW kind of stupid and sadly, it lives in Bremerton! :)

Hugs to all,
Jaye

A Christmas Story by Ben

I am going to copy word for word, spelling and all, the story Ben brought home from school the other day.....

A Christmas Story, by Benjamin Jacob Greene

The reinder began to get redy for chrismis eve. meanwile the elvs were making toys. then the reinder took off the next day. Santa said "go Dancer go Francer go Doner and Blixing." they landid on roof after roof while santa gave the toys. It was a long trip. But santa used magic!


I bet you haven't heard of THOSE two reindeer have you?!

Hugs to all,
Jaye

Award Winning Recipe

So last summer, Kings Hawaiian Sweet Rolls was having a contest called "Taste of Summer". They wanted a recipe that somehow incorporated one of their products and had less than five ingredients. So I submitted a recipe that I often use at Halloween (ok ok..not SUMMERY..but hey..I won..bite me!) mainly for it's simplicity and it's ability to stay warm etc throughout the night so as the trick or treaters in my house come straggling in they can grab a warm bite to eat! I received a letter in the mail today congratulating me on my win! I won first prize (not to be confused with the GRAND prize..a trip for four to Hawaii!) which was a $200 Visa gift card! YAY for me!

So here is the winning recipe...not GRAND prize winning...but first runner up winning! Hey...a win is a win right?

1 frozen pork roast
1 package lipton onion soup mix
1/2 bottle liquid smoke
1 pkg Kings Hawaiian Sweet rolls
1 bottle bbq sauce

Put FROZEN pork roast into crock pot. Sprinkle onion soup mix and liquid smoke over roast. Let cook all day. When ready to eat, pull pork roast apart and put a bunch of it on a roll...add warmed up bbq sauce....
and that's it!

Hugs to all,
Jaye

First Snow of '08

Well, we had our first snowfall of the year! YAY! We are all pretty excited around here I can tell you! It is pretty darn cold for WA state as well..20 degrees and it's noon! The weather reports are telling us that this is just the beginning and that we are looking at the longest cold snap since 1990! We are supposed to get hit with an even larger snowfall on Wednesday (2-6 inches) and that is at SEA LEVEL! I can just imagine what we will get as we are 400 feet higher up on the mountain! I went and bought the little ones new snow boots as they'd outgrown their old ones and we are all wearing our mitts and gloves and hats whenever we go outside...it is C O L D.


One side of our front yard Sunday morning! It is so peaceful here in the forest when it snows!


Hugs to all and keep bundled up!!
Jaye

Don't report me! :)

So when you see these pictures, don't report me to PPS...Pet Protective Services! :)
I never thought I'd turn into this kind of pet owner, but as my own children grow and as I get older, I do weird things...ok, WEIRDER things (I've always done weird things!). So here are Sassy and Morpheus in their Christmas gear! :)



Here is Morpheus the 'red nosed cat deer' with Paige...





and here is 'Sassy Claus' with Dani, Sams girlfriend....





Can you just hear Morph saying to Sassy "And what the HELL did they make YOU wear?" and Sassy is saying "I don't even want to talk about it"....
Oh Lord..now I am making up conversations for my pets...I need serious help....




Hugs to all,

Jaye

Celtic Yuletide

I firmly believe that every parent has the desire to instill the 'finer' things in their children, one of which is the Arts. I LOVE the theater. LOVE IT. Musicals, plays...I've seen quite a few of them too (my all time favourite play is Miss Saigon!). I get this desire to pass on my love of the arts to my kids even more so during the holidays. So the OBVIOUS choice is to give the kids some culture all wrapped in a Christmas theme!

I bought tickets a few months ago to 'Celtic Yuletide'. The write up said it would be of an Irish theme (duh!) with music, story telling and Irish dancing, all along a Christmas theme of course. PERFECT!

So Wednesday night, I made everyone dress up (for the boys-Mark,Sam and Ben this meant anice shirt with their jeans!) and off we went.

What a show! It was AWESOME! Two 45 minute programs with an intermission. So not so long that the kids would be bored, but not so short that I was left feeling I hadn't really been to the theater. It was at the Admiral Theater here in town, which is one of those old historical restored buildings from way back. SUCH a nice venue! And there was indeed music and dancing and story telling. We learned how to say Merry Christmas in Gaelic (don't ask!) and 'hupped' and 'wahooed' and clapped the night away. The kids ALL loved it and in fact expressed the desire to make it a part of our 'family Christmas tradition'!

It was a successful venture into the Arts to say the least. And a very nice way to spend an evening prior to Christmas!

Now I am looking for our next foray into the cultured world! :)

Hugs to all,
Jaye

Zoolights

Every year the Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium puts on 'Zoo Lights'. They have hundreds of thousands of lights all over the zoo and as we have a one year family pass, we decided to take advantage of the free entrance (for pass members) and check out this annual event. It was UNBELIEVABLE! We all had a great time wandering around the zoo absorbing all the light displays along with the ambiance. As it was a chilly evening (the lights go on at 5pm) everyone was dressed up 'like eskimos' as the song goes..mittens and scarves, sweaters and heavy winter coats. At one spot they actually had a snow machine which was awesome! You literally walked into a snow flurry! How fun was that!?! It was just unbelievable how many lights there were and how well they were done! It was something we all enjoyed and were glad we actually saw!


Mark and Ben and I just inside the entrance to the Zoo...Of course you can't really see Mark as he is in camoflauge (go with me on this one!)....



Mark and the kids posing together...




Some of the lights around the zoo...









This was the entrance to another exhibit....

Entrance to the aquarium...




Paige and Ben with their 'glow' items from the zoo...and Paige is on the phone with Gramma discussing Pogo!





Me...posing in front of some of the many many lights...






Mark and I in front of a garden of lights...





Sam and his girlfriend, Dani....





A display of seals chasing a salmon...all in lights!





One of Paiges favourite displays...of course!




Zoo deer....






Entrance to the kids area of the zoo...






By this point in time, Ben was tired and hungry and just wanted to go eat...




Sam and Dani on the carousel at the end of the evening...



Paige on the carousel....



The only shot I could get of Ben on the carousel....


What a great time we had.....

Hugs to you all,

Jaye